This Online Quiz Told Me How Long I’ll Live
Biological age tests have become a staple of experts and billionaires alike on their conquest to extend their lifespan. But the price point and retesting needed for epigenetic age tests from companies like David Sinclair’s Tally Health puts them out of reach for guys without Bryan Johnson-level budgets.
A cheaper option: the Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator analyzes your habits to guess how long you’ll live. Plus, it dishes out a few, personalized tips on how to boost your lifespan.
Here’s how it works.
How Does the Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator Work?
Thomas Perls, M.D., a board-certified geriatrician and internal medicine specialist, developed Living to 100’s Life Expectancy Calculator as an easier and cheaper way to predict how long you’ll live. This quiz is reminiscent of the kind you may have taken when buying life insurance, but this one goes a step further by offering tips on how to improve your score.
The 10-minute quiz asks you questions across four sections: personal, lifestyle, nutrition, and medical. The calculator uses information about your exercise, eating habits, and lifestyle habits, as well as your medical history to estimate how long you’ll stick around.
If your number is lower than you’d like, the site recommends tweaks—like lowering your caffeine or exercising more—that may increase your lifespan by a few months to several years.
While this quiz is a quick way to get insights into your lifespan, it’s likely not going to be as accurate as a biological age test, which looks at aging markers like telomere length, biomarkers, and gene expression to analyze your healthspan.
Live Longer
My Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator Results
The test was easy and only took 10 minutes to complete. The only stitch was that by my own laziness, I haven’t been to the doctor recently, so I couldn’t input my blood pressure or cholesterol results.
Many of the questions were straightforward, like “How often do you put your seatbelt on when you are in a car (either as driver or passenger)?” and “Do you take aspirin?” Others asked for more detailed information about my coffee and snacking habits or if I smoke.
My results came in at 86 years, just above the U.S. average. This means that if I don’t make some changes, I might not get a chance to fill in all 88 years of Peter Attia’s life calendar.
Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator’s Suggestions for Extending my Life
The number surprised me. Compared to a few of my co-workers who scored in the 100s, 86 felt low. I consider myself relatively health conscious. I don’t eat red meat. I don’t smoke. I hit the gym a couple times a week.
While it didn’t give me a pat on the back for any of my efforts, the Life Expectancy Calculator broke down a few ways I could boost my lifespan.
Cut out caffeine
The calculator suggested that I cut down on caffeine to increase my lifespan by half a year. But science actually suggests that drinking coffee can increase how long you’ll live. Drinking one to three cups of coffee each day could lower your risk of all-cause mortality, according to one recent study (1). I won’t be ditching my morning brew anytime soon.
Exercise more
The quiz also suggested that I could skyrocket my lifespan by 5 years by working out everyday (guess my measly two-days-per-week gym routine also isn’t cutting it).
Adults should get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week, but working out twice as much could reduce the risk of all-cause mortality by up to 31% according to a 2022 study (2). That means you should aim to workout around 45 minutes a day to reap the most benefits.
Eat less fast food
Even my once a week trip to McDonald’s is robbing me of a whole year, according to the quiz.
“The more you can get fast foods out of your diet the better,” the results read. “While you are already doing a pretty good job of doing so, completely removing fast foods from your diet could add a year to your life expectancy.”
A 2019 observational study that tracked the diets of 45,000 adults found that consuming more ultra-processed food was associated with a higher risk of early death (3).
Take a daily aspirin
The lifespan calculator automatically deducts two years if you don’t take aspirin daily and suggests “taking an 81 mg every day” to prevent stroke and heart attack. However, preventative, low-dose aspirin use is no longer recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for heart health.
While these results aren’t legit medical advice, I’ve definitely been convinced to schedule that physical I’ve been putting off.
References
- Kim, et al (2021). Coffee Consumption and the Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality in the Korean Population.
- Lee, et al (2022). Long-Term Leisure-Time Physical Activity Intensity and All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Prospective Cohort of US Adults.
- Schnabel, et al (2019). Association Between Ultraprocessed Food Consumption and Risk of Mortality Among Middle-aged Adults in France.
